Daylight in the Museum: Revisiting Garry Thomson’s Seminal Publication for Galleries, Libraries, Archives and Museums

This chapter examines the challenges of using daylight in museum environments. Unlike electric lighting, daylight varies significantly in spectrum, quantity, distribution, and angle due to time, weather, location, and environmental factors. Daylight colour temperatures can range dramatically and far exceeding typical electric lighting ranges.
While daylight provides psychological benefits to visitors, it poses conservation risks through high proportions of damaging Ultra Violet energy (24 times higher than LED lighting) and infrared radiation (heat). The chapter explores control strategies including specialised glazing, window films, blinds, louvres, and diffusing ceiling systems.
Case studies from the V&A Museum, National Gallery London, and Musée de l'Orangerie illustrate successful implementations and common problems. The analysis reveals that effective daylight management requires site-specific solutions, and many apparently "daylit" galleries actually receive less than 1% of available daylight due to necessary filtering.
The chapter concludes by questioning whether electric lighting systems that simulate daylight's dynamic qualities might provide similar benefits without the conservation risks and operational complexities.